Woodworking machine for quartering square timber



July 20, 1954 T. H. MILLER WOODWORKING MACHINE FOR QUARTERING SQUARE TIMBER 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 25, 1952 mdl lk July 20, 1954 T MlLLER 2,684,088

WOODWORKING MACHINE FOR QUARTERING SQUARE TIMBER Filed March 25, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 //\/z/& TUF THEODORE- H. MILLER,

July 20, 1954 T. H. MILLER 2,684,088

WOODWORKING MACHINE FOR QUARTERING SQUARE TIMBER Filed March 25, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet Z5 m/z/a/w-uF HEODORE H. MILLER T. H. MILLER July 20, 1954 WOODWORKING MACHINE FOR QUARTERING SQUARE TIMBER 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March 25, 1952 //\/Z/E TUE THEODORE H. WLLER AGE/V7- Patented July 20, 1954 ITED STATES PATENT WOODWORKING MACHINE FOR QUARTER- ING SQUARE TIMBER 4 Claims.

This invention relates generally to woodworking machinery of both the types known as resaws and the types known as moulders, but more particularly to a combination machine for the purpose of manufacturing the precisely formed key member strips completely described and illustrated in my co-pending patent application S. N. 223,335 filed April 27, 1951, and for the purpose of further shaping such strips to adapt them to a desired end use.

in my above mentioned co-pending application is explained the unique utility of the strips formed by quartering a standard sized timber known as a i x 4 in the trade but smaller than four inch by four inch in actual size. In the use of these strips as shown in my co-pending application these strips, and panels formed with them as essential elements, have many varied uses and useful properties but to be fully useful they must be precisely manufactured.

It is a principal object of this invention to provide a machine for precisely quartering 4x4 timbers so that the strips will all be uniformly of the same right angled isosceles triangular section and with clean sharp corners.

To accomplish this principal object it is a second object to provide a machine having a ri id frame structure with a rigid V-shaped feed way adjustably secured longitudinally thereupon, the Way having smooth plane sides for the purpose of guiding precisely there along the 4 x 4 which is being re-manufactured.

It is a third. object to provide said feed way over part of its length with a tunnel member aligned with the feed way for additional safety, rigidity, and precise guidance of the 4 x 4 timber.

It is a fourth object to provide gaps in the sides of said way the gaps being spaced as desired to allow access to the 4x4 for-the necessary remanufacturing tools and equipment.

It is a fifth object to provide near the loading end of said way a pair of oppositely disposed, motorized, resiliently mounted, corrugated feed rolls adapted to advance ix 4s through the feed way in end to end relation.

It is a sixth object to provide a pair of resiliently mounted hold down rollers ahead of said feed rolls for the purpose of crowding said ix is firmly down into the way.

It is a seventh object to provide back of said feed rolls a pair of direct connected, individually motorized planar heads exactly spaced one each in parallel with the lower sides of said way for the purpose of planing the upper two sides of said 4 x as to bring said 4 x 4s to an exact square of desired length of side.

It is an eighth object to provide forward of and adjacent each of said planer heads a resiliently mounted combination chip breaker and hold down shoe.

It is a ninth object to provide staggered along said feed way back of said planer heads a series of four direct connected, independently motorized rip saws each adjustably positioned to enter said Way through one of four slots opening along the angles thereof with two of the saws entering on opposite sides of one diagonal of the sized 4 x 4 and the other two of the saws entering on opposite sides of the other diagonal of the sized 4 x4, each of the saws being positioned with the outer diameter of its teeth set close to the axis of the 4 x 4.

It is a tenth object to provide back of each saw and in the plane thereof a padding strip or kerf filler of metal the thickness of the saw kerf for the purpose of maintaining the partially sawed i x l rigidly full size.

It is an eleventh object to provide a wood working machine adapted to divide a timber or rectangular section longitudinally into strips of a pre-determined sectional configuration.

It is a twelfth object to provide such a machine adapted to divide a timber of rectangular section longitudinally and diagonally subsequently to forming the surface of said timber uniformly longitudinally with a pre-determined sectional outline.

How these and other objects are attained is explained in the following specifications referring to the attached drawings in which Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of the basic machine of this invention.

Fig. 2 is a View in perspective of a stick of timber adapted to be remanufactured on this machine.

Fig. 3 is a View in perspective of one of the quarters of the stick of timber of Fig. 1 as the timber stick would be quartered on this machine.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the machine of Fig. i.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional elevation along the line 55 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a skeleton View in perspective of the saw kerf padding strips of this machine.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional plan view along the line 'l--'|' of Fig. 1.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional elevation along the line 88 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary longitudinal section along the line 9-9 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary section along the line l0--l0 of Fig. 8.

3 Fig. 11 is a fragmentary longitudinal section along the line I II l of Fig. 7.

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary end View of the feed roll mounting and drives of this machine.

Fig.- 13 is a fragmentary view in perspective of the timber engaging surface of one of the drive rolls of this machine.

Fig. 1a is a fragmentary end elevation of one form of additional equipment adapted to be added to this machine and one form of moulding strip to be manufactured thereby.

Fig. 15 is an end elevation showing another form of moulding strip which this machine can manufacture.

Fig. 16 is a composite end elevation of six forms of moulding which can be manufactured from the piece of timber shown in Fig. 2 in one pass through this machine.

Similar numerals of reference denote like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings there is shown a machine frame 2% of any desired length resting securely on a floor 22. The machine is basically adapted to re-manufacture a nominally sized i inch by 4 inch timber 3 into four precisely formed identical pieces 2d of right angled isosceles triangular section.

Support having horizontally extending arms 26, 21, rigidly secured thereto has fixed horizontially thereon a feed way comprising near its upper end V-shaped trough 28, 23, in which timber 23' is longitudinally guided while held securely therein by rollers 3t, 3| rotatably carried as shown by levers 32, 33 fulcrumed on support 25 and resiliently biased against timber 23 by springs as, separating levers 32, 33 from arms 28, 27 respectively. Support 25 is rigidly secured to frame 2 l.

Spaced longitudinally from and in exact alignment with trough 28, 29 is V-shaped trough 36, 3'! fixed rigidly to frame 2i by supports 38, 3-9. Timber 23 is longitudinally guided in trough 28, 29 while held securely therein by combined hold down shoes and chip breakers 40, hingedly secured to trough 36, 31, and resiliently biased towards timber 23 by springs 42, 43.

Closely spaced longitudinally from and in exact alignment with trough 3'6, 3! is V-shaped trough 44, 45 fixed adjustably to frame 2| by supports 45, 41, and 43. Secured to and inverted over trough 44, 45 is V-shaped trough 49, 56. It should be noted that as parts 44 and 45 and parts 49 and 50 are secured together to make a guiding tunnel for timber 23 and parts 24 made therefrom, parts 44, 45, .9, and 50 are mitered on their longitudinal edges and spaced from each other, as shown in Fig. 5, by kerf fillers El, 52, 53 and 54 shown in Fig. 6 and parts 55 shown typically in Fig. 11.

Secured within frame 21 is speed reducer 56 with its driving motor 51 and carrying on its output shaft sheave 58 which through belt 59 and sheave 66 drives input shaft SI of miter gear box 52 the output shaft 66 of which carries gear 63 meshing with gear 54 carried on shaft 65.

J ournalled on arm 61 rotatably carried on shaft 66 is feed roll 68 having fixed thereto gear 63 meshing with gear 63. J ournalled on arm EB rotatably carried on shaft is feed roll H having fixed thereto gear '12 meshing with gear 84. Rod 13 extending through holes in the outer ends of arms 6'! and 70 carries springs 14 and 15 which, strained by nuts T6 and 11 against arms Bi and 10 respectively, hold the corrugated cylindrical surfaces (Fig. 13) of feed rolls S8 and H firmly pressed against opposite sides of timber 23 for 4 the purpose of feeding timber 23 along the feed way comprising troughs 28-49, 3637, and tunnel 4445, 4950.

Supported rigidly on support 38 above frame 2| are two motorized plan-er heads 18, T9, carefully placed to size precisely the upper surfaces of timber 23. Parts 40 and 4! are biased against the top surfaces of timber 23 closely ahead of planer heads 18 and 19 respectively to serve both as hold down shoes and chip breakers. See Fig. 9.

Tunnel 4445, 4950 is made closely to fit and encompasses the precisely sized timber 23 as shown in Fig. 8 and the tunnel entrance is chamfered or rounded as shown in Fig. 10 for guiding timber 23 thereinto.

Longitudinally spaced in sequence along tunnel 4445, 4950 and radially disposed about the tunnel are four motorized circular rip saws each carried rigidly on a motor base micrometrically adjustable on a rigid support secured to the machine frame 2l. Each of the saws is adapted to rip timber 23 diagonally to the center from a different corner. Typically saw 89 is carried on arbor 8| of motor 82 having rigid base 83 adjustably positionable on support 84 by lead screw 85 to a desired depth of cut of saw downward along a vertical diagonal of timber 23. As shown in Fig. '7, trough parts 49 and 50 are recessed at 5 for saw clearance. Saw 8%! is precisely aligned with spacer 55 which is of narrow vertical depth to clear the corner of timber 23 ahead of saw 89, as shown in Fig. 11 and with kerf filler 5| which is of greater vertical depth to follow into the kerf sawed out of timber 23 by saw 80 as shcwn in Fig. 5. Also as shown in Fig. 11, spacer serves as a splinter breaker to prevent splintering of the edge of timber 23 by the outcoming teeth of saw 80. Kerr" fillers 5i and splinter breakers 55 are the thickness of the saw kerfs and extend from just behind the saws to the end of the tunnel in order that there will be little or no lateral movement of the parts of timber 23 as it passes saw 80 and the similar saws spaced back of and in quadrature with saw 80.

For convenience the starting switches of all of the machine motors are gathered together at S on the front of frame 2! near the feeding end of the machine. The wiring of the machine is only indicated in the-drawings since the arrangement and wiring is common in the art and is no part of my invention.

With the machine as so far described the key members 24 required in the constructions shown in my copending application are quickly and cheaply made. But the novelty and utility of this machine lends it to other uses than the simple provision of parts24.

It will be readily understood that by using the principles used for holding and feeding the material through the machine, the machine frame 21 and tunnel 44-45, 4'950 can be extended at will and other saw and planer heads can be added for further-operations on the parts 24. Or planer heads 18, 19 can be replaced with heads adapted to give timber 23 any desired surface form some of which possible forms are indicated in Figs. 14, '15, and 16. A composite operation of this type will be clear from Fig. 14 which indicates how :moulding cutters of any desired shape can be used to modify the exterior surface of the timber 23 ahead of the saws, after which the shaped timber can be ripped to the desired shape and number of pieces. Figs. 15 and 16 indicate other possible pieces that might be desired and made but are in no sense intended to show all of the great variety of moulding strips which can be made with great ease, rapidity and precision on a machine designed to use the prmciples here conceived and reduced to practice.

Having thus set out the objects of this invention, described the construction of a preferred form of the invention and its operation, I claim:

1. A machine for remanufacturing an elongated piece of timber of rectangular section into multiple units of different non-circular section, comprising: a horizontally disposed frame, a feed way, a plurality of ripping saws longitudinally spaced apart along said feed way and radially spaced apart about said feed Way, a rectangular tunnel member aligned with said feed way, said tunnel member having a bore of complementary outline with respect to the peripheral outline of said elongated piece of timber and closely encompassing the latter, said tunnel comprising plane elongated side members and diagonally disposed kerf fillers lying between the longitudinal margins of said side members and projecting into the bore of said tunnel a distance short of the middle thereof, said side members and kerf fillers being secured together to form a rigid tunnel member, said ripping saws each operating in a plane bisecting an angular corner of the rectangular tunnel, said plane having intake and discharge margins, each of said kerf fillers being aligned with the operating plane of a companion ripping saw and extending longitudinally of the tunnel from a point closely adjacent the discharge margin of the operating plane of said saw to a point adjacent the discharge end of the tunnel member, each kerf filler being of a thickness corresponding to the kerf width of the saw with which it is associated, power means for operating said saws, and means for forcing said elongated piece of timber through said closely encompassing tunnel and past the operating plane of said saws, thereby to hold the separated multiple units formed from said piece of timber in fixed lateral arrangement while sliding along the kerf fillers, respectively, and in frictional engagement with the intermediate portions of the bore of said tunnel member, whereby said piece of timber and the multiple units formed therefrom are maintained in exact longitudinal alignment as they pass through the plane of the ripping saws and out through the discharge end of said tunnel element.

2. A machine for remanufacturing an elongated piece of timber of rectangular section into multiple units of different non-circular section, comprising: a horizontally disposed frame, a feed way, a plurality of ripping saws longitudinally spaced apart along said feed way and radially spaced apart about said feed way, a rectangular tunnel member aligned with said feed way, said tunnel member having a bore of complementary outline with respect to the peripheral outline of said elongated piece of timber and closely encompassing the latter, said tunnel comprising lane elongated side members and diagonally disposed kerf fillers lying between the longitudinal margins of said side members and projecting into the bore of said tunnel a distance short of the middle thereof, said side members and kerf fillers being secured together to form a rigid tunnel member, said ripping saws each operating in a plane bisecting an angular corner of the rectangular tunnel, said plane having intake and discharge margins, and extending substantially to the longitudinal center line of said tunnel, each of said kerf fillers'being aligned with the operating plane of a companion ripping saw and extending longitudinally of the tunnel from a point closely adjacent the discharge margin of the operating plane of said saw to a point adjacent the discharge end of the tunnel member, each kerf filler being of a thickness corresponding to the kerf width of the saw with which it is associated, power means for operating said saws, and means for forcing said elongated piece of timber through said closely encompassing tunnel and past the operating plane of said saws, thereby to hold the separated multiple units formed from said piece of timber in fixed lateral arrangement while sliding along the kerf fillers, respectively, and in frictional engagement with the intermediate portions of the bore of said tunnel member, whereby said piece of timber and the multiple units formed therefrom are maintained in exact longitudinal alignment as they pass through the plane of the ripping saws and out through the discharge end of said tunnel element.

3. A machine for remanuf-acturing an elongated piece of timber of rectangular section into multiple units of different non-circular section, comprising: a horizontally disposed frame, a feed way, a plurality of ripping saws longitudinally spaced apart along said feed way, and radially spaced apart about said feed way, a rectangular tunnel member aligned with said feed way, said tunnel member having a bore of complementary outline with respect to the peripheral outline of said elongated piece of timber and closely encompassing the latter, said tunnel comprising plane elongated side members and diagonally disposed kerf fillers lying between the longitudinal margins of said side members and projecting into the bore of said tunnel a distance short of the middle thereof, said side members and kerf fillers being secured together to form a rigid tunnel member, said ripping saws each operating in a plane bisecting an angular corner of the rectangular tunnel, said plane having intake and discharge margins, each of said kerf fillers being aligned with the operating plane of a companion ripping saw and extending longitudinally of the tunnel from a point closely adjacent the discharge margin of the operating plane of said saw to a point adjacent the discharge end of the tunnel member, each kerf filler being of a thickness corresponding to the kerf width of the saw with which it is associated, power means for operating said saws, and means for forcing said elongated piece of timber through said closely encompassing tunnel and past the operating plane of said saws, thereby to hold the separated multiple units formed from said pieces of timber in fixed lateral arrangement while sliding along the kerf fillers, respectively, and in frictional engagement with the intermediate portions of the bore of said tunnel member, whereby said piece of timber and the multiple units formed therefrom are maintained in exact longitudinal alignment as they pass through the plane of the ripping saws and out through the discharge end of said tunnel element, and other filler members aligned with said kerf fillers and being of equal thickness therewith and extending forward from the intake margin of the plane of a saw with which a filler member is aligned with the kerf filler.

4. A machine for remanufacturing an elongated piece of timber of rectangular section into multiple units of different non-circular section, comprising: a horizontally disposed frame, a feed way, a plurality of ripp saws longitudinally spaced apart along said feed way and radially spaced apart about said feed way, a rectangular tunnel member aligned with said feed way, said tunnel member having a bore of complementary outline with respect to the peripheral outline of said elongated piece of timber and closely encompassing the latter, said tunnel comprising plane elongated slide members and diagonally disposed lrerf fillers being secured together to form a rigid tunnel member, said ripping saws each operating in a plane bisecting an angular corner of the rectangular tunnel, said plane having intake and discharge margins, each of said kerf fillers bein aligned with the operating plane of a companion ripping saw and extending longitudinally of the tunnel from a point closely adjacent the discharge margin of the operating plane of said saw to a point adjacent the discharge end of the tunnel member, each kerf filler being of a thickness corresponding to the kerf width of the saw With which it is associated, power means for operating said saws, and means for forcing said elongated piece of timber through said closely encompassing tunnel and past the operating plane of said saws, thereby to hold the separated multiple units formed from said piece of timber in fixed lateral arrangement while sliding along the kerf fillers, respectively, and in frictional engagement with the intermediate portions of the bore of said tunnel member, whereby said piece of timber and the multiple units formed therefrom are maintained in exact longitudinal alignment as they pass through the plane of the ripping saws and out through the discharge end of said tunnel element, said tunnel member being disposed with the side members thereof arranged obliquely with respect to the horizontal plan of said frame and with at least one kerf filler extending longitudinally of said frame member and perpendicular to its horizontal plane.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 19,702 Killam Mar. 23, 1858 602,507 Kennedy Apr. 19, 1898 615,833 Fisher Dec. 13, 1898 686,539 Ross Nov. 12, 1901 1,312,651 Walters Aug. 12, 1919 2,302,961 Kramer -1 Nov. 24, 1942 2,548,527 Goff Apr. 10, 1951 

